This insider perspective is one of the things I’ll miss most about Twitter if it crashes and burns. Yudin is Head of Political Philosophy at The Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences
Prospects For Peace Are Bleak
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Kyrie ‘Apologizes’ Again
Or tries. Maybe he should hire me to oversee his public relations. Here’s what I would’ve had him read.
“When I said the earth was flat, you thought I was joking, but I wasn’t. That should of been a sign. The year I spent in college, I rarely went to class. Who needs Earth Science or Twentieth Century History in the League? Employ me to quarterback your professional basketball team at your own risk.”
I Tutored The NFL’s Single-Game Receiving Record Holder
It’s 1985 and I’m a UCLA graduate student making big bucks working for the athletic department as a tutor for “Intro to Western Civilization”.
I was helping a potpourri of athletes including an Olympic gymnast from Mexico, a female swimmer (too attractive, hard to concentrate), a future NBA all-star, and a handful of football players. One of whom was the star wide receiver. The others, including Flipper Anderson from New Jersey, were having moderate success in his shadow.
In an effort to build rapport, I asked them what they planned to do after graduating. I almost lost Flipper right out of the gate. He chuckled at my stupidity. “Play in the league man.”
Inside, I marveled at his swagger. He was so slight, Chris Rock-like, maybe 165 pounds soaking wet. No way in the world I thought, just another out-of-touch athlete. But there was one thing I couldn’t see that first night in the athletic office. He was a serious burner.
Not only did he play ten years in the NFL, he still holds the record for the most receiving yards in a single game. 336 yards. The story is detailed here.
Never judge a book by its cover.
How News Outlets Handled The Florida Man’s Announcement The Other Night
The Best Rookie In The American League Plays With The Most Joy
That smile.
Pop Quiz
Who Said It: Elon Musk or Mr. Burns? I scored 83%.
‘Probably Should Have Told You That’
From Tyler Cowen’s blog post on John Higgs’s Bond, The Beatles, and The British Psyche.
We need more George Harrisons.
On Radical Listening
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez For The Win
Update. “The House Race That Shows Why Republicans Collapsed in the Midterms“.
“Kent’s weaknesses don’t take away from Gluesenkamp Perez’s accomplishment. She seems to have been the perfect Democrat to win the district. She has a bit of the magic John Fetterman dust many in her party will soon be seeking: She’s young (in her mid-30s) and owns an auto-body shop with her husband. She ran in large part on abortion rights, but is also a gun owner who opposes an assault-weapons ban.
Soon she’ll be a U.S. representative, too. That profile probably wouldn’t have been enough to unseat Herrera Beutler, but voters turned out to be so repulsed by MAGA candidates who question elections and pal around with racists that they were willing to give a chance to the right alternative. Democrats alone couldn’t flip seats like Washington’s Third, but with the help of Trump and the most extreme primary voters in the area, they were finally able to make it happen.”
Thinking Slow Together
That’s how an excellent colleague of mine describes her teaching philosophy. It perfectly encapsulates what I strive to do with my students as well.
The phrase “thinking slow together” echoed in my mind while reading David Sims’s review of Dave Chappelle’s SNL appearance.
When watching Chappelle, I vacillated from unconsciously laughing at many of his punch lines to consciously questioning how he set up a few others. A singular talent, I thought he was very funny, but I also experienced some uneasiness and couldn’t give completely in to him.
I didn’t understand why until thinking slowly about it with Sims’s help. And there is the power of the printed word. In a world where faster is always seen as better, writing and reading force us to take time to ponder things, to consider others’ viewpoints, to formulate tentative ideas, and to clearly communicate them.
And as in the case of Sims’s review, that slowing down results in more profound, longer lasting insights than live audio or television generate by themselves.
Pressing Pause 